1-158-623 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Distillation of Oil of Vitriol (sulphuric acid or H2S04), 1651. An iron retort with cover, detail at C,D, is placed in a furnace and connected to a receiver at A. At B the operator is removing the lid of a pot with tongs and inserting ingredients with a ladle. This process entailed prolonged heating. At E is a pot placed directly on the fire rather than in a furnace. From A Description of New Philosophical Furnaces by Johann Rudolph Glauber. First English edition, translated by John French (1616?-1657). (London, 1651).